Holiday Traditions
Extreme seas, in Italy most meals were prepared
Appetizers —Shared by Jim Talaga, RS
We have the Scandinavian tradition of eating Lutefisk on Christmas eve – typically cod, pickled in lye, with a rubber-like consistency and flavor of soap – which is the punishment phase for the Christmas morning redemption of Aebleskivers. Aebleskivers are essentially donut balls filled with jam, covered with powdered sugar.
Buono Feste —Shared by Diana Carlson
If you are Italian you know that every holiday or special event revolves around a lot of food and a lot of family. Our parents and other relatives came from the regions of Apulia, Abruzzo, Campania and Sicily passing on to us how to cook meals that originated from their home villages. There were no recipes, we learned by watching them cook, by instinct adding just a little of this and a little of that.
In Italy it is custom to abstain from eating meats for a time prior to the day the big holiday is observed. The tradition seems to have made its way from Italy to America in the early 1900’s as Italians immigrated here. Being surrounded by five
with fish and immigrants brought their bounty of seafood traditions with them to America.
Being surrounded by five seas, in Italy most meals were prepared with fish.
In our Italian families, we have created a custom of preparing a seafood meal on the eve of each big holiday. Depending on who is hosting the event, the seafood dish may be elaborate or very simple. (We have a brother who has been known to serve frozen fish sticks. He doesn’t get the honor of hosting very often!) The main dishes from our regions are clams, seafood salads, shrimp scampi, calamari, fritto misto (fired seafood) and vegetables, mussels, marinara, baccala (salt cod), Cioppino (fish stew) with lots of garlic, olive oil and plenty of wine.
The day of the big holiday, the meal lasts all day, beginning with espresso.
The day of the big holiday, the meal lasts all day long. It begins with espresso and biscotti and then lunch with an antipasti to the main courses with lots of delicious festive
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